The Flight of Moira Pan
by Animetor777
Summary: This is the story of Peter and Wendy's daughter Moira and her quest to save Neverland, for the rest of the story you'll just have to read and find out. Note: reuploading and editing
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER FOR ENTIRE STORY: I DO NOT AND WILL NEVER OWN PETER PAN.**

**Ch. 1 A Caged Bird Singing**

"I will not!" the girl turned her formidable glare toward her father. Her hazel green eyes burning with the fiery temper that he regretted passing down to her.

"Moira, it is the finest school in London. You will be receiving an education that many would quite literally kill for."

"Fine, then get one of them to go."

"You leave tomorrow." He said in an exasperated tone, his hand passing over his eyes in an unsuccessful attempt to shift his bangs away from his line of vision. Moira started to argue, but was cut off by her father,

"Not another word! You know how your mother hates fighting." His brown eyes pleaded with her to calm down.

"Mother hates anything that messes up the perfect little family she wanted." Moira muttered under her breath before giving her father one last icy glare and slipping away to her room.

Once there she sat down on her bed and released the flood of tears that cascaded down her cheeks. St. Abigail's school for girls. That was where she was supposed to be sent for the next five years of her life. She was twelve years old and was already starting to feel the pressures mounting around her. She was constantly being told that she was no longer a child and could not act like one any longer. Fine words coming from her father who, as a boy, had fought Pirates and Indians and stayed a child for who knows how many years.

You see Moira's full name was Moira Pan. She was Peter's daughter. And she was being sent away to boarding school.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch.2 A Fledgling's First Flight**

Moira woke to the tinkling of bells filling the air and a small white light flooding the room. She had heard enough of her parent's stories to know who it was, "T-Tinkerbell?!" she exclaimed in a whisper hoarse from sleep. Slowly the unintelligible tinkling formed words.

"Stupid girl goes and drags him off and then what happens? Well now the little idiot can't see or hear me. Well, on second thought he's not so little anymore, but still! Honestly, you'd think he'd remember the pixie that saved his life a few dozen times now wouldn't you?" by this time Moira had regained her powers of speech.

"Excuse me, Tinkerbell?" Tink gave a start then whirled around to face the being who'd frightened her. Finding only a scrawny girl in a thin white shift she relaxed and snapped

"What do **you** want? Can't you see that I'm busy trying to get braindead over here to remember me?" at this Moira felt a prickling of pity for the fairy,

"It won't work. He doesn't want to remember. I don't think he even wants to **believe** in magic anymore, let alone remember his experiences with it." Just the thought of this made Moira want to cry again. She remembered the early days of her childhood. The days when her father told of great battles between himself and various pirates and beasts. Battles always fought for the sake of her mother, Wendy. The days when her mother would sit by the fire knitting, desperately trying to hide her blush in the glow of the embers, her blue eyes shining with remembrances. The days when her parents made the stories come to life for her, the days before Jane left.

"And who might you be Missy? I haven't got time to babysit, there's trouble on Neverland."

"I'm his daughter." Moira explained simply, adding in her thoughts _and the only person in this house with __**some**__ spark of imagination left._

"Impossible!" Tinkerbell scoffed throwing back her miniscule head in laughter. "Peter doesn't have a daughter. He only left four years ago."

"YES HE DOES!" Moira hissed anger overwhelming her, "He has two actually, well **had **two at any rate. And it's been a lot more than four years ago in case you hadn't noticed." Tink looked Moira over thoughtfully.

"Come to think of it you **do** look a bit like Pete. Same ruddy hair, same puckish nose, your eyes have been tainted by your mother, but his temper hasn't been calmed in you at all! That much I can see." This evaluation only served to make Moira angrier than she already was and she was just about to tell this little imp just who was in charge when Tink said, "Shut your mouth girl, you look like a gasping fish. Well if I can't have Peter you'll have to do. You **do** know how to fly now don't you?" Too confused to do more than shake her head Moira gave Tink an inquisitive look. While the fairy in question sped around Moira's head sprinkling what appeared to be gold glitter all over her. All the while muttering things like " The stuff I have to put up with around humans." Or "Doesn't even know how to fly."

Now, you never told me your name child."

"Moira, but I couldn't exactly tell you when you were-"

"Just the name will suffice thank you." Said Tink cutting her off sharply, "Now, Moira, it's very simple really, you just step off of the window ledge and let the wind catch you." Moira rolled her eyes and did as she was told. She fell like a rock in water for about ten feet before the air caught her and lifted her up to the stars. As she had fallen she had just barely contained a scream of pure terror. Because flying was something that she thought she knew, having heard both her mother and father describe the sensation countless times. _Neither of them ever mentioned falling like a duck on shooting day. _Moira thought sulkily. Tink merely muttered something about inexperienced flyers and then huffed away. Before she really knew what was happening Moira was on her way to a mythical Island guided by a magical fairy she had just met. She had always made fun of her mother for leaving in her night clothes, but now she understood where she was coming from.

* * *

"Can…we…please…stop soon?" gasped Moira flapping her arms in a vain attempt at keeping herself aloft.

"No we can't. You can rest when we get to Neverland. Don't you have **any** stamina girl?" since learning Moira's name she had only used it once, preferring to call her by the generic, girl or child.

"Tink,.. we don't stop soon I swear I'm going to fall out of the sky." With a long drawn out sigh that would have made Wendy proud she said,

"Fine, there's a church up ahead a few miles, we can stop there. Will that be enough to satisfy your whining?" Too tired to fight back Moira merely nodded her head and squared her shoulders for another few miles of grueling flight. They had been flying for hours, Moira never knew quite how many, and the sun was just beginning to dye the sky a pleasant, peachy, pink. Up ahead she saw the outline of a steeple that looked as though it had been painted in India ink. It wasn't much, just a simple square building with a steeple and bell tower. But at that moment Moira would have sworn it looked nicer than Buckingham Palace. She gratefully plummeted downward, no longer caring a about grace and crashed into the gray, stone bell tower. Where she proceeded to pant and wheeze in such a way that she would have been turned away at the door to St. Abigail's even if she had wanted to attend. As she struggled to regain her breath, Tinkerbell floated down next to Moira's head where she found a comfortable out jutting stone. "You have ten minutes, no more. Make the most of it." Tinkerbell said this without any pity. Normally she would have been kinder to a new flyer, but she was determined to save Neverland and Neverland only had so much time left.

"What exactly is wrong with Neverland?" Moira asked having regained enough breath control to speak. Tink looked her in the eye her own betraying her hopeless despair.

"Hook"


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3. The Land of Dreams**

"Hook?" Tinkerbell nodded gravely.

"But that's impossible; my father had him leave the island years ago."

"He came back." Tinkerbell's hard exterior cracked and she prepared herself to explain the dire situation on Neverland. "After Peter left things started to change. For a while the remaining lost boys tried to keep things going, but without their leader they were disorganized and they lacked the imagination that Peter had once had. You see that's what protects Neverland, children's belief in magic. After Peter left some of the boys started to lose their belief. This is partly due to the Indians severing ties with them as soon as Peter was gone. War broke out. The lost boys worn down by warfare and trouble started to let go of their belief in magic, their imagination, everything that builds up the protective barrier around Neverland. And without their belief and dreams the defenses around the island were horribly weakened and time was able to slip through. When time came through everything started to age. For the first time flowers were dying and the beasts were beginning to hobble. It seemed like time was making up for the years we had gotten away from it. But that was not the worst, no, the worst was when **he** came. Hook came to the island with a crew larger than any force the island had ever seen. He attacked when we were at our weakest and easily overcame our ragtag army. When I left he had taken over half the island. When we get back he'll probably have control over the whole thing."

"But how is that possible?" Moira asked in a voice taut with shock. "You'll only have been gone a few hours, surely he doesn't move that fast!" Tinkerbell sadly shook her head then turned to glare at Moira, "Haven't you been listening girl? Time is racing in Neverland! A couple of hours here could easily be days or even weeks there. Your ten minutes is up. Get flying."

* * *

By mid-afternoon the island was in sight, a fuzzy green blob against the surrounding blue of the ocean and sky. From a distance it looked like a beautiful tropical paradise but as they closed in on it Moira saw the murky brown of dying plants, the pale, dead fish washed up on shore. This was **not** the Neverland of her parent's stories.

They touched down on the rough, waterlogged sand. Shocked out of her exhausted daze, Moira turned to look at Tink, "What happened here?" in a voice heavy with sorrow Tink answered,

"**This** is what happens when you take the imagination away from Neverland. **This** is what happens when people no longer believe in magic." Suddenly Moira's parent's disbelief seemed less like a mere annoyance and more like…. well like a crime of sorts. _How could they condemn Neverland to this fate? Especially Father, how could he just abandon everything like this? He _**_must_**_ have known what would happen. How could he? It's almost like a betrayal. _Now Moira knew that logically, an island couldn't be betrayed and that her father wouldn't have left had he known what would happen when he did. But this did nothing to soothe the sting that came from the knowledge that **her** father had caused all of this. Pulling herself together Moira steeled herself for a fight. A fight that if lost would forever change the world of children; because the isle of Neverland was the home of all dreams. If it went down then so did all of the dreams of children. And a world without the dreams of children? Well, Moira shuddered at the thought.

"Come on. Moping never helped anyone. Where's the nearest place we can rest?"

"That'd be a cave near Mermaid's Cove. I **would** take you to the hide out, but I'm not so sure what your reception would be." Moira nodded once, and then gestured for Tink to lead the way. No more than five minutes later they were drifting toward the other side of the island, where a small cove dung into the main circumference of the island. For Neverland, as you know, is a very small island. Once, sparkling water had cascaded over the stones and hills of the cove. Now it sat stagnant and flat. Like a book sitting on a shelf gathering dust. Named for its beautiful mermaids, the cove was now left vacant, abandoned by its namesakes. Moira made a mental note to ask Tink where they had gone. But first, she would sleep. Rest her eyes that had been weighing down on her all day.

Sleep on Neverland felt like falling through a blanket of warm, velvet mist. And there were always dreams. Actually it's a little known fact that there is no such thing as a dreamless sleep on Neverland. Even if you had none of your own that day, one of the resident dreams on the island would seek you out, eager to be looked at again. (Dreams are very vain creatures.) Moira dreamed of how the island once was. The shining cerulean waters dancing around the soft, oatmeal colored sand, leaping up to kiss the evening sky painted in brilliant water colors. She saw the mermaids, jewel toned tails, scaly, yet somehow still beautiful. In her sleep she reached out to touch them, but as she stretched toward them, they vanished. Swept away like smoke blown in the wind. So she spent the night, her mind filled with pleasant images. She woke to the dawn expecting to see an emerald crocodile with a peculiar ticking sound originating from his abdomen. Instead she was the cave looking out on the empty cove. Her determination to save Neverland was increased ten fold. For she had seen how it was supposed to be. She had seen what the land of dreams was supposed to look like, not this rotting, desperate place, but a land of wonder and beauty that caught the imagination and took it for a ride. A ride that was very much like flying, only without the air resistance or exhaustion. Moira had to save Neverland. If only to see it for herself cloaked in all it's former glory. She also wanted to protect the safe haven, not just, for the dreamers, but for those who needed a land of dreams to keep them going.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ch. 4 To Dream the Impossible Dream**

Peter felt like all of the old scars Jane had made when she had gone had been ripped open and left to bleed afresh. Jane was his eldest child. She was almost a mirror image of her mother, the only difference being her impatience with hair curlers. Well that and their contradicting attitudes. As she had grown up Peter had told both of his daughters stories about Neverland and his adventures there. He had painted images with the words that would remain with them forever. Unfortunately for him Jane had believed his every word. She had believed in Neverland and Tinkerbell; in the Crocodile and the Neverbird. And even in Hook's dark, somehow threatening, mane of curls. She was of course correct in this thinking. But she had made up her mind that she was going to find her father's stories and bring them back to life. So one day she simply left, went searching for the land of dreams. Without warning, without a plan of action or forethought. (Peter winced at the similarities between this and his early escapades.) They had not seen or heard from her since. After this Peter decided that it was simply too dangerous to tell Moira fairy stories. And so in an effort to protect her he began to dismiss fairy stories as poppycock or hogwash. Stopped telling the tales that reminded him too much of Jane. And now the irony stung, like a paper cut generously doused in lemon juice. In trying to keep Moira safe and at home he had driven her away.

Peter assumed that she had followed in the footsteps of her sister. He did not know about Tink's reappearance in the nursery and the situation on Neverland. He only knew that every night he left the window open in the hope that one of his children at least would return. Then how his building hopes were crushed when he and Wendy woke to their children's empty beds.

Wendy also was deeply hurt by her children leaving her. She blamed herself. After all was it not she who had banned magic in the house? Was it not she who had tried to instill in her daughters a sense a "propriety" concerning the M word? And was it not she who had come up with the idea to send Moira to boarding school? She had also tried, in her own way, to protect their girls. She had tried to keep them as far away as possible from magic so that they would not have to go through the pain it left behind when it went away. The incessant longing to fly again or at least see a fairy just one more time; the constant struggle of reaching for the stars only to discover that you do not have a ladder. She did not want her daughters chasing after rainbows, which have a nasty habit of moving just when you've caught up with them. She felt like that which she had longed for since her own childhood, motherhood, was her greatest failure. She loved caring for people. It gave her purpose. And now looking out the nursery window, her husband by her side, Wendy wondered if she could have prevented all of this merely by sharing her story with her children. As she looked up at the sky her eyes scanned the heavens, looking for a particular star. An otherwise insignificant pin prick of light that was the gate way to a place where dreams are reality and reality seems to be a dream, a place that both she and Peter had once known quite well. She looked to the right and hoped beyond hope that her daughters were safe and happy. And had ultimately found what they were looking for, the place that they belonged. Wendy felt the tears rolling down her cheeks and looked to Peter for strength. But instead of his usual controlled, calm demeanor she found him crying. This was the third time Wendy could ever remember him crying. The first time was the night they had met and she had lectured him about mothers. To this day he claimed that he hadn't been crying, although his opinions on mothers had been altered by having children of his own. The second time was when their eldest had torn their family apart. And now Peter was crying not for himself any longer, but for the pain his daughters would have to endure. They had tasted the forbidden fruit and would have to learn to live with the consequences.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5 Never Trust a Pirate**

"Tink where did the mermaids go?" Moira and Tink were flying over the island to survey the damage. The report wasn't good. Everywhere they looked things were losing the bright, unreal, life that had once been commonplace on Neverland. It was if there was a crack in the barrier that holds the magic inside Neverland and it was now seeping out.

"Tink, where'd they go?" Tink gave a start then answered,

"I suppose the same place all of the other magical creatures went. When the lost boys started to lose belief in magic there was nothing to hold them here so… they left." This was made her task even more difficult. She had figured that she would just have to find the lost boys and other inhabitants of the island, give some inspirational speeches and then leave. But without magical creatures Neverland wouldn't function properly even if there were a hundred Peter Pans inhabiting it.

"Is there any way that they would come back?"

"They might, if we get everyone here to believe again. But we have bigger fish to fry, look. There!" Tink pointed towards a harsh metal structure. Coming in closer they could see that there was a person standing near it. No… not standing there, chained there! They were now a mere thirty feet away from what appeared to be a camp of sorts, crouched down behind some Never-ferns that had once come in ever color imaginable but were now a dingy brown.

"What's that?" Moira hissed in an urgent whisper,

"I…don't know." Answered Tink who was starting to get the feeling that this would be much more than simply luring back a few fairies and gnomes.

* * *

"You promised me you wouldn't!" a young woman yelled not caring who heard her. Her voice throbbed with betrayal and was threatening tears. She had auburn curls that seemed to have a life of their own and forget-me-not eyes that were currently burning with more intensity than a livewire. The man across from her twisted his ink black moustache around his fierce metallic hook and smiled at her, his eyes that were depthless pools of night glinting cruelly.

"My dear, didn't your father teach you? Never trust a pirate. Put her below decks!" a squat, plump man waddled in.

"Y-yes Cap'n. We have to go now miss. Terribly sorry about all this but, Cap'n's orders." Jane glared daggers at Hook until the door was securely fastened and she was led down stairs swathed in shadow below decks.

When Jane had first left home she had believed that while people made bad choices they were essentially good. Three days in the London slums had cured her of that. Starved and bedraggled on the fourth day she found her way to the harbor. She was miserable but bound and determined not to return home before succeeding. Most of this was due to pride. She was too proud to go home partly because before she had left; her impertinent younger sister had told her that she couldn't succeed. Jane wasn't willing to give her that victory. But she also did not want to return because she knew that as soon as she did she would first be cooed over but would then undoubtedly receive a lecture from her mother. Who would say that her little escapade just went to show what a harmful effect fairy tales could have on young girls. Which in turn was the reason she had left, to prove her mother wrong. To show her that there **were** fairies and that Neverland most certainly **did **exist. But of course her mother would never admit to her disbelief Jane could here her now _"But of course I believe dear, what on earth would make you think that I don't"_ but she didn't really mean it. Much as she hadn't meant it when she had told Jane that she could go off on her "fairy quest" if that's what she really wanted. Jane smirked at the remembrance. Wendy had figured that Jane wouldn't** really** leave. Well it seems as if Wendy is a little out of touch with her daughters Jane **did** take her up on the offer, gladly.

Now she wandered through the harbor asking anyone who would listen if they knew how to get to Neverland. She knew that this probably wasn't the best course of action but she didn't have any better ideas and reckoned it was better than nothing. An ominous man cloaked in scarlet, with a huge, feathered hat and a shining hook in place of a right hand approached her.

"Neverland you say?" a terrified Jane nodded, "I can take you there child if you agree to join my crew. What do you say?" desperate as she was to find Neverland Jane agreed, knowing full well that this was some **very** shady business. Aboard the ship he told her of how he planned to make the island a great land of wealth. When asked whether he would hurt anyone to achieve this he solemnly promised the girl he would not. A promise he would do well to remember now, Pans did not easily forgive a grudge.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch 6. The World Gets Awfully Heavy Sometimes**

Hook's thin lips spread into a wide, dark, smile. Everything was going according to plan. That idiotic girl had served her purpose remarkably well, covering up the true nature of their ship until it was too late. In a few days they would be back in London with a full load of what the natives called their "belief". Hook let out a small condescending chuckle. Belief. How stupid did they think he was? Well soon he would show them. Show them that Hook too could live forever young (relatively speaking). And he would do more than that. He would harvest their "belief" that made eternal youth possible and sell it to the highest bidder. Soon he would be the richest, most powerful man in London at the very least. And no one would ever be able to shove him aside again. Not a foolhardy girl, nor a smug, egotistical, little boy. No one. Hook would matter. He would be important. And he would never be shoved out of the way again.

* * *

Tiger Lily was terrified. It was anew feeling for her. She was accustomed to being strong and confident and felt like an idiot being so shaken. Her father would never have been this upset. _Well maybe he would have, but he wouldn't have shown it._ She revised inside her head. She **had** to live up to her name. She gave a grim laugh thinking about what her father used to say.d Tiger Lily. Fierce and strong like a tiger, sweet and free like a lily. She was putting her name and her family to shame with this cowardly behavior. But she had seen what the people who had been taken looked like when they finally returned. Hollow and lifeless as if they had been drained of everything that gave them hope, like they were now more of empty husks than people. The man with the claw hand was taking something vital from her people, she knew it. But what? The only word that came to mind was belief, so that's what they called it. When their people came back they were gaunt and their eyes were blank and vacant. In short they were not the people they had been. And meanwhile the island was failing them. Peter had left and the lost boys had become fierce and selfish, ignoring all of their previous territory agreements. The war had weakened both groups but as fate would have it the pirates attacked them first. They tried to gather their former allies but were only able to raise a small ragtag army and that just barely. _Fate must really get a kick out of cruel jokes_ thought Tiger Lily going through the past months events in her mind. Their numbers were dwindling and soon their people would vanish altogether. _NO! I won't let that happen!_ Tiger Lily began a conversation in her mind. _Of course not. You're too stubborn for that._ Her inner voice replied. A voice which in the months since her father's passing had sounded more and more like him.

"What am I supposed to do Father?" Tiger Lily questioned the sky, "You always taught me to be strong especially in hard times but How am I supposed to be strong when everything around me has collapsed?" the sky gave no answer. Tiger Lily did not cry, but it was hard battle to hold the tears in. But somehow she managed. It was a sign of weakness among her people to shed tears. She **did** however feel the harsh, bitter hopelessness that consumes those whom imagination and belief have deserted. Then she looked around her at the men women and children who she was supposed to be leading and was filled with a fierce determination to protect these people, many of whom she had known her entire life.

* * *

Tiger Lily's plan was simple. Move the remainder of the tribe to the other side of the island and hope that this would give them enough time to find a way off of the island. She had never been off of Neverland, nor had anyone she had ever known. All of their stories and legends came from this place. Everything she knew about where they came from could be summed up in five words: the south side of Neverland. Leaving was terrifying and if they left there was a good chance that they would not make it. But if they stayed they were guaranteed at least one of two things, to lose their belief or to die of starvation because Neverland was dying. "We leave in the morning and hope that staying on the other side of the island will keep those scoundrels away for a time." Tiger Lily spoke with a confidence in her plan that she did not feel.

* * *

"We leave it to you,** Chief **Tiger Lily." She gave a start. She still not accustomed to being called chief despite the fact that she had inherited the title months ago. Suddenly she felt the weight of responsibility push down upon her. At fifteen the weight of an entire people was on **her** shoulders. _If I fail. If my people are wiped out. It will be all _**_my_**_ fault. Father, why did you have to leave me alone? I don't know what to do. I need your advice, I need you._ The rest of them were putting out their fires and curling up in their sleeping bags to sleep. _They look so peaceful. I wish I could join them._ Tiger Lily shook herself out of this thinking. _I can't let us be surprised I have to stay awake._ She lasted maybe ten minutes. A young brave named Shadow Wolf covered her with a blanket.

"Sleep now." He murmured "Let the weight of the world be lifted from your young shoulders." He then took up her post as guard watching over his people, Indigo tinted black in the night. He knew that his leader, though a good then years younger than himself, had wisdom beyond her years. Shadow Wolf trusted her, not only with **his** life but with the life of their entire tribe. And rightly so.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch 7. A Noble Heart**

Moira's hand shot up and snatched Tink from mid-flight. Tink was about to protest but Moira pointed at the guard who was just passing over the place where Tink had been. They had been spying for an hour now and had **still** been unable to fathom what the gargantuan metal objects looming over the beach were. Moira motioned to the jungle and Tink, for once, agreed quickly. Once inside the cover of the olive green trees that swathed in mist, they felt safe enough to discuss their new discoveries. "We have to get those people off of that… that thing." Moira burst out, eyes beginning to flame.

"No." Tink responded calmly.

"What, you think we can just leave them?" Moira huffed indignantly.

"No, I don't. But if we try to free them and fail what do **you** think Hook will do?

"We **can't** leave them there! Besides I have a plan."

"You! A plan?" Tink snorted "I thought you said you were Peter's daughter."

"I am!" a furious Moira replied. Tink seemed to have a talent for annoying just about anybody.

"Then what is this so called "plan" of yours?" Tink queried condescendingly.

"I'm going to sneak into camp and free everyone who is imprisoned there." Answered Moira matter of factly.

"Perhaps you are his daughter after all. This is exactly the sort of hare brained scheme that he would come up with. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sneak into a pirate camp?" Moira stuck out her chin defiantly, but shook her head. "Didn't think so. Well it's near impossible."

"But Father…"

"I don't **care** what Peter did." Think cut her off, "You. Are. Not. Him. Also have you thought what would happen to Neverland if you fail? By bringing you here I have handed you the fate of the land of dreams. That was why I wanted to bring Peter. But now, Neverland's fate quite literally rests in **your** hands. Don't screw up!"

"So you think we should just leave them there!" Moira snorted derisively.

"For the time being, yes. I do." Tink answered sadly.

"**I WILL NOT**! You may be able to leave people behind, but I **never** will!" Moira's anger which had been bubbling under the surface now burst out in a violent, volcanic explosion. Moira had her father's noble heart and the temper of a wild boar, not a good combination near pirates.

"All I'm saying is that the fate of all the future children is on your shoulders. There is no time to find someone else. And if you fail Neverland falls. And if Neverland falls, dreams vanish. Do you **really** want that to happen?" Moira shook her head, "I **know** you want to save those poor people, I do too. But if the cost is all the dreams the world has ever, and will ever have? Well no people are worth that." Moira whispered a promise toward the pirate camp then turned back to Tink and said,

"I don't like it, but it's necessary. Let's find the Lost Boys." Tink nodded and set off.

* * *

"What's that? It looks like Wendy!" Slightly snatched the telescope away from Tootles' chubby hands. Looking through it he saw a small white shape that from a distance might be taken for a bird. He could feel the excitement building inside him. He had it fixed in his mind that when Wendy came everything would be all right. A smile spread itself across his face. He began to feel, dare he say it, happy. Sure she wasn't flapping her arms like she used to. And it seemed that Tink had forgiven her, judging by the speck of light flying next to her. But it was **her**. Wendy was back! Slightly allowed himself to sink into the bliss that had been threatening to swallow him. Wendy was here. There would be stories and pockets. They would have decent meals that were **not** make believe and would be tucked into bed again. True, at thirteen, Slightly was a bit too old to be tucked into bed. But he still remembered. Long after the other boys had forgotten, he remembered what it had been like when Wendy was there. He remembered the warm, loving feeling that had seemed to follow her around like a shadow.

"Slightly." Nibs nudged him gently in the ribs, "Slightly what should we do with **her**?" Slightly shook his head to clear his vision. To his vast disappointment, he saw, not Wendy, but a small girl in a white night gown, who looked strangely like Peter. Slightly blinked his eyes willing his vision not to be true. Finally, with a heavy heart, he accepted it. Wendy had **not** come.


End file.
